Flood protection apparatus for articles

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a flood protection apparatus for articles, such as motor vehicle, furniture, and electronic goods. The flood protection apparatus comprises a lower bag and an upper bag, which are made of impervious, and flexible materials. A portable sealing device can be applied to the lower and upper bags to seal the articles completely in the bags. Inside of the bags and around the junction of the two bags, there are provided with a plurality of attachment devices for attaching the bags onto the smooth surfaces of the articles to be enclosed in the bags. With the attachment devices, the bags can be easily and quickly installed. In addition, the bags can be free from the affliction of the fierce wind and wave of floodwater, and the articles contained therein can be protected from damage as well.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a flood protection apparatus for theprotection of motor vehicle, furniture and electronic goods during theflood.

2. Description of Related Art

There are many extreme flood events happen every year in the globe.

It always causes a huge property lose during the heavy rain, typhoon,hurricane or flood. Most of the vehicle, furniture and electronic goodswill be damaged while immerse in the water. It will take much time andmoney to repair the vehicle. General, the function of immersed car can'tbe repaired completely. The furniture and electronic goods, such assofa, bed cushion, TV and computer will be discarded after immersion.Needless to say, how to combat the problems caused by flooding is veryimportant and pressing lesson.

The use of the flood protection systems is known in the arts. U.S. Pat.No. 4,315,535 issued to Battle et al. and entitled “Flood protectioncontainer for vehicles” would teach the use of an upper orifice and cordhoused within a continuous channel for constricting the orifice.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,178 to C. D. Hicky disclosed the use of a flexiblecontainer for the storage of a vehicle, with the use of a flexibleimpermeable cover with a sealing means adapted to cooperate with thechannel to provide a fluid type seal.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,474,803 issued to E. F. Davis and entitled “AutomobileEnclosure” provides an enclosure for an automotive vehicle fabricated ofimperious flexible sheet material in a generally baglike from into whichthe vehicle may be moved, and the enclosure then closed to effectivelyseal the contained vehicle until the closure is opened and the vehicleremoved.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,456 issued to Rodgers disclosed a motor vehicleflood protecting apparatus. The apparatus includes a flexible cover ofwater impervious material and a flexible vent tube.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,557 issued to Lohse et al. and entitled “Coveringfor large, heavy objects in particular military equipment.” Would teachthe use of a tube made of flexible tarpaulins or sheeting as a coveringfor relatively large objects for the purpose of long-term storage.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,819 issued to Chiang demonstrated a modular carcover has a cab covering portion and a shirt. The car-covering potionconnects to the skirt by hook and loop fastener, and has individualpouches for covering the exterior mirror of an automobile.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,113 issued to Streyckmans disclosed a vehicle floodprotection system that includes a vehicle housing to which a cover ishinged. The peripheries of the cover and housing each include lockingmechanism for creating a water tight seal.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,200 issued to Allain et al. and titled “MotorVehicle Protection Apparatus and Method” provide a vehicle protectionenclosure comprises a flexible plastic envelope having a side portioncontaining a sealed side opening. For protection in flood conditions,the envelope is anchored or tethered to stationary objects, andpreferably two or more ends are anchored or tethered.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,105 issued to Allain et al. and titled “MotorVehicle and Valuable Possession Flood Protection Apparatus and Method”demonstrated a motor vehicle flood protection apparatus and methodincludes a lower plastic container or cover member having a rectangularbottom panel and integrally joined end, and side panels that havelateral edges joined to form a leak proof vehicle container.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,862 issued to Allain et al. and titled “Automobileflood protection system and method” provided a motor vehicle floodprotection apparatus includes a plastic container member having a bottompanel and integrally joined end, and side panels that have edges joinedto form a vehicle container. A pair of reinforcement strips joined tothe bottom panel resists puncture of the plastic container member.

F.R. Pat. No. 2,808,828 issued to Georges and titled “Individual sheltercomprises floor integral with furniture and is covered by shell” whichcomprises a floor, integral with the furniture, constituting the bottompart of the waterproof shelter. A shell covers the bottom part.

W.O. Pat. No. 0,005,999 demonstrated the waterproof furniture systemmainly for outdoor use. It comprising two pieces of furniture,characterized in that each of said pieces of furniture comprises a shellwhose shape is essentially convex and can be paired with another pieceof furniture of the same type placed upside down to form a waterproofstructure.

None of these apparatuses, however, are adapted to enclose articles asthey are completely exposed in typhoon, hurricane or flooding waters.The vehicle flood protection systems described above are complicated andtime consuming to operate. Some apparatuses are even designed to installwith many people. Furthermore, the female and male zip lock elements,pull string and waterproof zipper seal method can be not completelycreate a water tight seal in the affliction of the fierce wind, wave offloodwater or submerged in flooding waters.

Therefore, it is necessary to establish a flood protection apparatuswhich can really create a completely water tight seal, and also verysimple and easy to operate for woman driver or single user while in thetyphoon, hurricane and flood.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device for the protection of motorvehicle, furniture and electronic goods during the flood. Its purpose isto provide an effect and easy way to protect the motor vehicle,furniture and electronic goods from submergence damage in floodingwaters. The flood protection system is economical as well as simple, andcan be reusable.

Concurrently, the present invention also provides a means to establishan efficient and effective seal device to protect articles againstflooding based on our device.

To attain this, the present invention comprises a flood protectionsystem comprising an upper impervious flexible bag and a lowerimpervious flexible bag having some suckers inside and sidewallsintegral thereto. Each of the sidewall has a peripheral edge with asmooth margin formed thereon. The portable mini-type electric heatsealer is applied to seal completely the smooth margins of the upper andthe lower bags. Many suckers are linked within the each bag forstabilizing the sealing and supporting the weight of bags. With thesucker devices, the flood protection bags can be easily and quicklyinstalled for a woman driver or single user. In addition, the suckerdevices are beneficial to the bag free from the affliction of the fiercewind and wave of floodwater. The articles contained therein can beprotected from floodwater damage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood and objects other than those setforth above will become more apparent when considered with the followingspecification and accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example of the flood protectionapparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the attachment device and the smoothmargins of the upper and lower bags.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the portable sealer machine to sealthe bags.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the vehicle that be enclosed by theflood protection apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the refrigerator that be enclosed bythe flood protection apparatus of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Please review FIGS. 1,2 and 3. They consist of an exterior perspectiveview as well as a sectional view of our flood protection device. Thepresent invention consists of an upper bag (10), a lower bag (20), aplurality of suckers (50) and a portable handy sealer (60). A lower bag(20) has a horizontal base and a continuous sidewall extendingvertically from the base, each of the sidewalls having an upperperipheral edge with a smooth margin (40) formed on four of thesidewalls of the lower bag which will connect with the smooth margin(30) located at a corresponding position on the lower peripheral edge ofupper bag (10). There are some suckers (50) located at inside of thebags and around the junction of the two bags for attaching the bags ontothe smooth surfaces of the vehicle to be enclosed in the bags (see FIG.4). When the vehicle is moved in the lower bag, pull up the suckers toan optimal height and adhere onto the smooth surfaces of the vehicle oneby one. And then, cover the top of vehicle with the upper bag and pulldown the suckers to an optimal height and also adhere onto the smoothsurfaces of vehicle. Finally, a mini-type handy heat sealer (60) isapplied to seal the both smooth margins of the upper and the lower bagscompletely along by the peripheral edge (see FIG. 3). The mini-typehandy heat sealer can be connected to a set of batteries to provide DCor can be connected to a source of AC exterior of the sealer by means ofan adapter. Therefore, it is very easy and simple to operate in theinside or outside house. The sizes of these bags are corresponding tothe sizes of the articles that we wish to enclose (see FIG. 5). Afterusing, one can use a knife to separate the upper and lower bags along bythe original junction, and put them away for next use again.

One can understand from above that our invention has the advantages ofbeing easy and simple to operate, effect way to create a completelywater tight seal, making it a practice solution to the flooding problemand a valuable invention for commercial use.

1. A flood protection apparatus for articles comprising: a lower bagincluding a horizontal base and a continuous sidewall extendingvertically from the base, each of the side walls having an upperperipheral edge with a smooth margin formed on four of the side walls ofthe lower bag; an upper bag including a flat base with a top surface andunderside surface, an upper bag having a lower peripheral edge with asmooth margin formed thereon for junction with the corresponding smoothmargin formed on the four side walls of the lower bag; the plurality ofattachment devices are positioned in the inside of the bags and aroundthe junction of the two bags for attaching the bags onto the smoothsurfaces of the articles to be enclosed in the bags; a sealing devicefor sealing completely the smooth margins of the lower and upper bags.2. A flood protection apparatus for articles in claim 1, wherein the bagis made of impervious and flexible materials.
 3. A flood protectionapparatus for articles in claim 2, wherein the materials are rubbermembers.
 4. A flood protection apparatus for articles in claim 2,wherein the materials are plastic members.
 5. A flood protectionapparatus for articles in claim 1, wherein the attachment devices aresuckers 6 A flood protection apparatus for articles in claim 1, whereinthe attachment devices are hook-loop fastening types
 7. A floodprotection apparatus for articles in claim 1, wherein the attachmentdevices are double-sided types
 8. A flood protection apparatus forarticles in claim 1, wherein the sealing device is a portable sealermachine.
 9. A flood protection apparatus for articles in claim 1,wherein the sealing device is an electric heat sealer.
 10. A floodprotection apparatus for articles in claim 1, wherein the sealing deviceis an apparatus that contains the instant adhesive compositions.